by Waltham Forest Socialist Party members

“We have been treated like garbage. We are not garbage,” said Daniel, one of the tenants from the Butterfields estate in Walthamstow, east London. He was speaking at a ‘walk-the-walk’ event on 2 April organised by the campaign against evictions on the estate.

Nancy Taaffe on the mic; Butterfield tenants & supporters' 'walk', 2.4.16, photo Sarah Wrack

Nancy Taaffe on the mic; Butterfield tenants & supporters’ ‘walk’, 2.4.16, photo Sarah Wrack   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

60 residents, local campaigners and supporters marched loudly and proudly through Walthamstow. We appealed for the community to support the 63 families facing eviction after their homes were sold by their previous landlord, the Glasspool Trust charity.

Butterfield tenants & supporters, 2.4.16, photo Sarah Wrack

Butterfield tenants & supporters, 2.4.16, photo Sarah Wrack   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

The new landlord, private developers Butterfields E17 Ltd, wants them out so it can sell for a quick profit. But the tenants are determinedly still in their homes, despite the ‘notices to quit’ for many having expired in the week before this pavement walk.

Butterfield tenants & supporters, 2.4.16, photo by Sarah Wrack

Butterfield tenants & supporters, 2.4.16, photo by Sarah Wrack   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Speakers emphasised that this walk was designed to galvanise support and get ready to defend the tenants in whatever way is necessary, including physically resisting bailiffs if it comes to that. To this end we collected details of supporters to add to a phone tree and money in case needed for legal fees.

Wanting more info about the Socialist Party; Butterfield tenants & supporters, 2.4.16, photo by Sarah Wrack

Wanting more info about the Socialist Party; Butterfield tenants & supporters, 2.4.16, photo by Sarah Wrack   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Socialist Party members have been working with tenants to help organise the campaign. We raised that the council has responsibility to ensure these residents stay in their homes, as well as the need for rent control and a mass programme of council house building. We sold 27 copies of the Socialist.


This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 4 April 2016 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.